Captain Kangaroo

*Captain Kangaroo* was an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955, to December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its era. In 1986, the American Program Service incorporated newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing the updated version until 1993. The show was conceived and starred Bob Keeshan as the title character, who based the series on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children." Keeshan had previously portrayed the original Clarabell the Clown on *The Howdy Doody Show* when it aired on NBC. *Captain Kangaroo* had a loose structure centered around life in the "Treasure House," where the Captain would tell stories, meet guests, and engage in silly stunts with regular characters, both human and puppet. The show was initially telecast live to the East Coast and the Midwest for its first four years, with kinescope recordings used for the West Coast, as Keeshan refused to perform the show live three times a day. It was broadcast in black-and-white until 1966. The May 17, 1971, episode marked two major changes: the Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place," and the Captain changed his navy blue coat for a red one. In September 1981, CBS reduced the hour-long show to a half-hour, briefly retitled it *Wake Up with the Captain*, and moved it to an earlier time slot; it was later moved to weekends in September 1982 and returned to an hour-long format. The show was canceled by CBS at the end of 1984.

Sign in to rate, log, or skip individual seasons & episodes.